What was thought to be two competitive rival matchups in Brownson Arena turned into two dominant, statement wins for both the Maverick men’s and women’s basketball teams. Now both teams are on win streaks, and both have chances to win the RMAC.
Over the win streak some jaw-dropping statistical events occurred. Across three games, the Mavs men’s team made 58 straight free throws. The NCAA DI record is 54 by the University of Missouri, and it is believed that the NBA record is 56 set by the Miami Heat last season. Also, star forward Trevor Baskin dropped 43 points in a game, just two points off a program record that his father Jon Baskin shares.
Meanwhile, the women’s team held New Mexico Highlands University to just 28 points in a blowout win. Highlands was only able to make eight shots the entire game. Also in the game, playing in home state, redshirt senior guard Laura Gutierrez eclipsed the 1,000 point mark in her career.
Before the crazy events that concluded the four game stand for Colorado Mesa University (CMU), the men’s and women’s team had dominant wins against their rival, the Colorado School of Mines (Mines).
After a devastating loss on the road, the women’s team took a huge setback in the chase of winning the RMAC. In response, the Mavs beat the then number one team in the conference and the then ranked #20 in Mines by 27 points, 74-47.
“We didn’t even practice on Monday, we just watched film and just talked about what we need to do, and I think it actually kinda helps a little bit. They came out and executed the game plan really well. I’m really happy with the girls, that’s probably the best we played all year, defensive-wise,” Head Coach Taylor Wagner said.
After the Mavericks took the lead early in the 1st quarter they never looked back and the game was never close. CMU had four players score double figures, in addition to a total team defensive effort. The 27 point margin was the largest in 10 years when the Mavs beat Mines by 31 points.
“I wasn’t disappointed with anyone, everyone got out there, they know the expectation. If they don’t go out and compete… then I’ll probably say something,” Wagner laughed.
Despite statement win, the women’s team is still surprisingly not mentioned in the latest coaches poll while Mines fell out. However, if they keep stringing together solid wins like this, then coaches around the nation will have no choice but to give them their props.
Going into the men’s game, CMU had to answer the question of how they would play without Mac Riniker, who was a candidate for both the defensive, and RMAC player of the year awards. The severity of Riniker’s injury is unknown, but he has a walking boot on his right foot.
Mesa answered that question by moving the ball just as well as they had all season, leading them to hit a program record 18 threes for the third time this season. Just like the women’s game it was a team effort, with four guys in double figures, while limiting Mines to 81 points playing CMU’s up-tempo style of play.
While potentially losing Riniker, the Mavs were also infamous for having a ridiculously deep bench, as many as 13 players.
“I think it’s nine of the last 16 seasons, for me, that we’ve had a significant loss throughout the course of the year. So, I’ve always tried to keep a little deeper bench that sometimes would be best in the short term, but having that long term vision that you don’t know what’s going to happen the rest of the season. So we have a lot of guys that are comfortable playing different roles, and it allowed us to have success tonight because they’re used to playing in different combinations,” head coach Mike DeGeorge said.
Looking ahead, both the men’s and women’s teams play two very favorable games, and could win the regular season championship and host the RMAC post-season tournament. Now, they will be rooting for Mines.
The men’s team needs Mines to beat 1st place Fort Lewis College this weekend, and if CMU takes care of business, they win the RMAC. The women’s team also needs Mines to win, as they play Adams State University, who is tied atop the conference with CMU, but owns the tiebreaker.
No matter what, both teams will have at least one postseason playoff game at Brownson Arena, March 5 during the RMAC Postseason Tournament.
